I’ve installed Debian Linux on over 50 devices by now. A vanilla configuration with GNOME works pretty much out of the box for me on a high-end desktop with a modern NVIDIA graphics card.

I’d say the biggest part of the learning curve is figuring out which apps are good and suitable for what you’re trying to do. Just like with Windows and macOS and Android and iOS, there’s only a handful of viable options among an overwhelming sea of poor ones.

There are many wrong ways to install NVIDIA on any given Linux distro and architecture, and only one functional way. As others here are saying, that’s on NVIDIA, not you or Linux.

General advice: whenever possible, strongly prefer your distro’s standard package manager to install things over any other method. With Ubuntu, I believe that’s either apt or snap.

Also: if you find yourself poking around in some obscure system internals while troubleshooting an issue, you probably took a wrong turn somewhere.

Occam’s Razor: coincidence is the most likely explanation. Most of us aren’t as unique as we think we are. It doesn’t take very long for a keen observer (or algorithm) to profile our behavior based on direct surveillance.

Think of it this way: if you were the algorithm and were looking at a detailed account of every second of time you spent on the platform, and also had the same accounting for every other user… what inferences and connections might you, the algorithm, be able to make about you, the person?

It’s a feature, not a bug, for platforms to recommend relevant content. It’s also intrinsic for you to engage with the platform authentically, engaging with it in a way that aligns with your interests, preferences, and demeanor. Relevant content drives engagement. Engagement drives revenue. Irrelevant content does the opposite and serves to benefit no one involved. The popular platforms blew up exactly because they are so good at knowing what you want to see even before you do.

In short: no amount of tech can save us from ourselves.

As someone who was recently fired for, among other things, being a stick in the mud about AI, I have some thoughts.

Try not to take work too seriously.

I drew a picture of Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force saying, “It don’t matter. None of this matters.” and put that by my monitor in my office. Whenever I started to feel activated about some bullshit, I just glanced over at Carl. It calmed me down to be reminded that my real job is to simply not lose the job.

It’s a very bad time to be unemployed and anti-AI right now. Just tread lightly, ride out the storm, and let the inevitable reckoning eventually come to pass.

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RE autoscaling: effective distributed systems design isn’t really language-dependent. Java apps can scale just as well as ones written in Go. That said, I can see there being a case for Java apps not making it as easy to build that way. There’s definitely a lot of mainframe/monolith-oriented patterns in both the standard library and in enterprise Java culture.

As for the job market and career investment, I’d say this:

• Keep investing more deeply in what you’re good at. That’s your foundation and what sets you apart.
• Avoid chasing the “next big thing” based on speculation and trends alone.
• The next step in your career hinges more on your ability to think and design at higher levels than it does on lateral moves to another programming language.
• Explore languages and technology that you think are interesting, relevant, or can provide value or elevate what you’re already doing. The main benefit of doing this is to engage your brain differently and encourage change, improvement, and growth. This will indirectly improve your work and help your career.

I’ve written a lot of Java in my career and studied it in college, and I’ve written one app professionally and several hobby projects and utilities in Go. There’s a lot to like about it, regardless of its marketability on a resume.

If you’re using Gmail, and you’re considering alternatives for privacy reasons, then 100% without a doubt, objectively and unequivocably, Proton is the better choice of the two.

There are other email providers with privacy assurances, and yes, you can self-host, but don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.

To address the trustworthiness of Proton directly: I’ve been a Proton user for about 10 years. It gets the job done. I have complaints, but privacy is not among them.